The Uprising
by AnonymousWriter23
Summary: There is a revolt in Hibernia. Halt, Gilan, Will, Horace and friends they meet along the way try to understand the revolt. Who can they trust, who can't they trust, they must decide. Will they conquer the evil in the world? Or will they seal their own fate? First Fanfic, Please read and review!
1. Prologue

**A/N: This is my first fanfic so please don't expect a great story. **

(6 months after the return from NiHon-Ja)

"I can't believe it!" Will exclaimed, after his 7th proposal to Alyss, has she changed her mind altogether. He and Halt were on their way to the Gathering. "I don't know, for all we know she can be doing it just to annoy you," replied Halt. "Well if she's doing it on purpose she's having a hell of a good time doing it," grumbled Will.

After all the rangers finished setting up tents and drinking their coffee (as usual), the Ranger Commandant Crowley announced that there was trouble in Hibernia. Tennyson, had a son, who he raised in secret, and was continuing what his father started. Instead of taking his father's tactic, which was tricking the people out of their gold by pretending to be the prophet of Alseias, the Golden God, he used enormous amount of archers with recurve bows, much like the ones the Temujai army used.

The arches were used to soften up a village's defenses, then knights wielding a variety of weapons including; swords, shields, lances, spears, maces, battle hammers, and pikes charge in and demolish the village. This method proved very effective and Tennyson's son already conquered several villages this way.

The king Sean had sent a letter requesting help, Crowley was now asking for volunteers. Will, Halt and Gilan requested to be sent to Hibernia. Crowley instantly agreed, but wanted Horace to go with them in case. Their story begins now…


	2. Sea Voyage

**A/N: Please review **

Sea Voyages

"I don't know why I even volunteered for this mission", Halt groaned after throwing up for the umpteenth time. "Are you ever going to get rid of you seasickness?" Gilan asked, trying not to grin. "Nope, I think I'm stuck with it", Halt replied, turning green again, then going below decks. They were on a ship bound for Hibernia with Halt's seasickness acting up again.

Suddenly, a crewmember shouted "AMBUSH!" Immediately, three ships appeared on the horizon. It didn't take a genius to figure out that they weren't friendly. Gilan could see little figures pointing crossbows at their ship. Will and Horace came out on deck, "What's all the commotion", Will asked. Gilan silently pointed at the approaching ships. It took Will a moment to register the fact that they were under attack.

As the ships drew near, it started raining hell. The crossbowmen started opening fire, metal bolts whizzed through the air. Will, Gilan, and Horace ducked to one side; a plank was lowered between the two ships. Approximately twenty swordsmen boarded. Most of the crewmembers of Will's ship were unarmed and were cut down where they stood, though some took daggers and fought valiantly but were eventually overcome by the sheer numbers.

Will blinked and drew out his longbow, Gilan also took out his longbow and strung it. Horace closed his gaping mouth, unsheathed his sword, and prepared to do battle.

The three of them fought desperately but the enemies came endlessly. Gilan managed to gasp out: "Jump … over … board". Will and Horace had no choice but to do as he said, they both jumped into the freezing black sea. When he hit the waves Will lost consciousness.


	3. Stranded

Stranded

When Will came to, he found he was on an land. Horace and Gilan were kneeling next to him. After Will opened his eyes, they breathed a sigh of relief. "Where are we? What are we doing here?" Will asked groggily. Then he remembered everything, the ambush, jumping overboard, but one thing nagged at his mind. "Halt! Where's Halt?" Will was up in a flash, then felt nauseous and had to sit back down. Both Gilan and Horace looked at the ground, "He's gone Will", Gilan finally said.

Will found himself blinking back tears. Halt couldn't die … he was … Halt. He remembered all their times together: being accepted as his apprentice, chasing the wargals, being rescued in Skandia, making the stand against the Temujai, saving Erak from Arrida, chasing Tennyson through Hibernia, tending to his arrow wound. All of those things flowed through his mind like a river. Will cried out with pain, agony and shock of losing his mentor. It was all to much for him, he lost consciousness again.

When he woke up, he calmed himself. Horace and Gilan were building some kind of a shelter. "Why are you building a shelter?" Will inquired. Gilan started: "Well … err … um", but was interrupted by Horace: "Will, we forgot to tell you this but we are on a island, there's no way off, no way back to civilization, we're stranded.

**A/N: Please leave reviews, hoped you liked it ;-)**


	4. A Life Changing Meeting

A Life Changing Meeting

_Somewhere else on the island…_

Halt woke up and rubbed his eyes. He quickly took stock of his surroundings, resigned to the fact that he was stuck here until someone came and rescued him or he found some magical bridge leading to a portal to Araluen. He built a shelter using bark from trees and leaves.

Suddenly, he realized something was wrong. He didn't have his longbow, he wildly looked around saw that his longbow was a few feet away from him. But next to it, was a footprint. He was sure it wasn't his, so someone else must have left it there, but who? As he was pondering the question, a rowboat came into view, there was only one person in it and he seemed to be unarmed. Halt still took precautions, nocked an arrow to his bow, and aimed it at the approaching figure.

"Wait, don't shoot!" the figure cried out. When the boat hit land, Halt saw it was just a boy. "I will explain everything that happened, but no interruptions, and don't shoot me," the boy said. "First tell me your name, and then I'll decide whether or not to kill you", Halt said coldly. "My name is Luke. I am, sorry, was a slave from the ship that attacked yours, I don't know much about the people who attacked you but I overheard the ships captain talking to an official from Hibernia. That much I am sure of but anything I don't know much else."

It seems that my nephew Sean has been corrupted by his power. He wrote the letter to trick us into coming, but ambushed us on the way." Halt mused. "Then come with me", Luke pleaded, "free all the slaves, kill the king, we need your help as a _ranger_". "How did you know I was a ranger?" Halt asked, his eyes narrowed with suspicion and he tightened his grip on his bow.

Luke sensed that he was in danger so he quickly said: "Our captain told us to kill all the rangers, but I have no intent of killing anyone". I can't come with you until I find my friends", Halt replied. "Well then, let's find them fast". "The sooner the better," Halt agreed.


	5. Reunions and Adventures

Reunions and Adventures

The two groups met quite unexpectedly, Halt and Luke were walking around the base of a mountain, while Will, Horace, and Gilan walked around the other side. Gilan turned the corner and walked straight into Halt. Will's eyes brightened when he saw Halt was alive, jumped up, and embraced him in a bone-crushing hug. Halt managed to gasp out "No … breath". "Sorry Halt", Will exclaimed, "I'm just glad to see you alive". Halt introduced everybody to Luke, who was carrying one of Halt's recurve bows. The group made their way back to Halt's camp. Gilan and Halt immediately began arguing who made the better camp. Will interrupted their argument by shooting one of the arrows he made right between them, and shut them up.

_Meanwhile, in Castle Araluen…_

__King Duncan sat at his desk reading the letter that one of his officials had sent him; the letter said that Halt, Will, Gilan, and Horace joined Sean, who became corrupted because of his power. They were coming back to Araluen any day now, and the letter said his rangers should be prepared. Duncan had already heard rumors, but hadn't believed them. Now that one of his most trusted officials send him a letter, Duncan had to accept the truth. He ordered all of his rangers back to Redmont fief so they could all defend against the homecoming rangers.

_Back at the island... _

The island that they were on wasn't that far from Hibernia. Seeing this, Halt and Gilan loaded all their supplies into Luke's small rowboat. After eight hours, they landed in Hibernia. Five guards immediately challenged them; Will took down four of the guards, and knocked out the fifth. Horace then bound the guard's wrists behind his back and his ankles together.

When the guard awoke, he was immediately questioned. He said that Hibernia was completely under the control of Sean, and that Tennyson's son was his closest advisor. However, he knew nothing else. This caused Halt to lose his anger and shoot the guard. They now knew Sean was more dangerous now that he ruled not only Clonmel, but also the entire kingdom of Hibernia. They had to tread more carefully now.

An hour later, they made camp in a forest. At three in the morning, Horace was awakened by some rustling noise. He peeked outside and found a black figure prowling around their camp. Not even thinking, Horace came out behind the figure and choked him. The commotion caused the rangers to come out of their makeshift tents and look at Horace with a look of confusion. Then they saw the figure lying next to him.

When he came to, he immediately denied trying to kill anyone. He claimed that he was an escaped slave trying to find help. He also said that his name was Leonard. Everyone except Horace trusted him; he thought it was strange for someone to be sneaking in their camp in the middle of the night.

The next morning, they were rudely awakened by the clanging of swords. Horace jumped to his feet, drew his sword and started battle. There, in front of him stood five knights, each with a crossbow leveled at his head. Horace uttered a small "uh, oh", before they fired. Training took over and he ducked two bolts, jumped over another, rolled to the side to avoid a further bolt, finally cutting the last bolt in half. He let out a blood-curdling yell and charged at the knights. "Horace, be careful, they might have more than one crossbow", Will said coming out of his tent.

Just as Will said, each of them pulled out a crossbow. Will, Halt, and Gilan each shot one, Horace cut down another but the fifth one aimed and was just about to fire when an arrow sprouted from his chest. He looked around in surprise and saw Luke with his small recurve bow pointed at him. Horace knew that Luke had saved his life and was forever grateful to him. They prepared to move on…


	6. Hopeless Defense

**A/N: Please review**

Hopeless Defense

_A letter sent to General MacFrewin…_ _ We are ready to begin Operation Overlord. Three hundred archers, five hundred knights, and fifty elite soldiers are at your command. We look forward to the collapse of Araluen. Lead my men well, and good luck._ _Icy Winds_

_At Castle Macindaw…_

Malcolm looked up from his work healing wounded the soldiers in Castle Macindaw. What he saw was burned into his memory forever. A cloud of dust came quickly towards Castle Macindaw. He could see Scottish soldiers as well as other soldiers he didn't recognize.

The unknown soldiers were all wearing icy blue armor, and held swords were made of a sort of blue metal. Malcolm then had a devastating thought; there were no rangers in Norgate! A few days ago, Duncan had received a letter that called all rangers to Redmont fief. He shouted out to the soldiers: "Close the gates, everyone in the castle! Picta is attacking us again!" When the people of Macindaw heard the news, they all ran screaming inside.

The enemies drew closer mile by mile. When they got into attacking range, they didn't start hacking at the walls, or take out a siege engine, or take a catapult and start flinging flaming stones into the courtyard. Instead, they brushed right past. The archers in Norgate fired as many arrows as they could, but nothing could dent the attacking force. They marched on, on to Araluen fief.

When night fell, the soldiers of Macindaw all fell asleep. Some enemy soldiers armed with pickaxes started digging on the side of Castle Macindaw. When the tunnel was finished, around fifty soldiers stormed in and slaughtered everyone in the castle including Lord Orman. Only Malcolm was still alive, after the Scottish force left he returned to Healer's Clearing.

In the morning he went back to Macindaw but found it in possession of those strange blue armored soldiers. Only a fraction of their force was left to guard Macindaw. The other troops had supposedly gone on to Araluen.

In Castle Araluen, there was chaos. Those blue armored soldiers used the same tactic on the castle. The reason there was fighting was because Cassandra, returning from one of her late night "expeditions", saw the tunneling and alerted the guard garrison. The blue armored soldiers had the advantage of numbers _and _skill. The soldiers guarding the castle quickly surrendered, Duncan was thrown in one of the dungeons, but Cassandra manages to escape.

All over the kingdom, castles are being conquered. In Redmont fief, the combined force of rangers and garrisons put up a tremendous struggle, but all of them were eventually captured and executed.


	7. Friends or Foes?

Friends or Foes?

_In Hibernia…_

"What time is it?" Horace asked for the millionth time. "Three minutes since the last time you asked, now be quiet!" Will replied, "You're reminding me when we were besieging Macindaw". The group was on the road to Clonmel. Everywhere they looked, there were annihilated villages, and burnt fields. They were attacked quite a few times and even Halt was beginning to suspect someone was giving their position away.

The attacks were getting dangerous. Leonard was very nearly killed, but Will saved his life by throwing his knife at the man. Halt was almost captured in one ambush; they were walking down the road, into a ruined village. Suddenly a rope net dropped from nowhere and Halt had the misfortune to be caught in it. Gilan and his quick thinking saved Halt's life; he shot a dozen arrows at an angle, the guards tried to dodge them but were blinded by the sun, causing them to drop the net. Halt crashed with an "ummph" to the ground. He immediately started arguing with Gilan that he didn't want to save his life, just all the coffee strapped to his belt.

Two rangers arguing over coffee can be dangerous at times, Halt and Gilan started shooting at each other with arrows. Most of the arrows collided in midair but some wormed their way through the mess and almost struck the rangers. Will knew just what to stop them. He brewed three cups of coffee over a temporary campfire, and started threatening to drink all of them. That stopped them alright!

One foggy midnight, Leonard sneaked outside the camp, he was working for Sean, and he decided to act tonight. Leonard went inside Will's tent with a knife but remembered how the youth had saved his life. His personality triumphed over his orders and he lowered the knife. He decided he wouldn't be the one who held the blade that murdered them, rather lead the Sean's men to the camp and kill them all.

_The next day…_

The small party set out again, the journey was uneventful, and they weren't attacked once. Everyone was getting an uneasy feeling. At nightfall, after they set up camp, they noticed that Leonard was missing. Before they had time to start a search, an eerie noise pierced the silence. From over the hill, hundreds of guards poured over the crest. They were led by no less than Leonard. When he saw he was recognized, his eyes widened and merged back into the crowd of soldiers. As the guards were quickly killed, Will's confidence began to return.

One thing that worried him was he always saw a shadow at the edge of the battle, flitting around the trees, looking for an opportunity to attack. Will left the battle to seek out the mysterious shadow. When the shadow saw him approaching, it didn't retreat or advance, just stayed there.

As Will approached, he realized that the shadow was a girl, with long black hair and electric blue eyes. She seemed about the same age as he was. Just as he was preparing draw an arrow, the girl raised a bow hidden inside her cloak, and fired it at Will. Will's training took over and he also shot an arrow, intercepting the girl's arrow and breaking it in half. At this, the girl looked mildly surprised, and fired seven arrows in quick succession. Will rolled behind a tree and heard the arrows thud against the wood. Will's mind quickly formulated a plan; he took some acorns lying on the ground and flung them at the top of the tree, where a cluster of branches formed a "nest". When the girl's attention was diverted, Will quickly used his skills of unseen movement to circle behind the girl. He softly said: "Surprise!", and slammed a tree branch on her head, knocking her unconscious.

After the successful battle, they decided what to do with the unknown girl. Halt wanted to just shoot her and get over with it, but Will had a suspicion that this was not an enemy. After a crazy discussion, Gilan disarmed her, which was hard considering the number of weapons she carried, then bound her wrists behind her back and tethered her to a tree.

After the girl awoke, she didn't even looked surprised at the condition she was in. She said she was a lieutenant in the army that Sean was gathering, but was forced in the army. She and a few other soldiers had raised a rebellion, not announcing it, but keeping it quiet until they found more members to join. They had heard of a group that was causing havoc all around Hibernia, so she was dispatched with a group of soldiers to attack them. She came with a plea for help, her attacking Will, she claimed was just to test his skills.

The group didn't know if she was telling the truth or not, they had bad experiences with Leonard and wasn't sure that she could be trusted. They finally trusted her after she gave them a list of the army's numbers, soldiers, powers, and weapons. After Will untied her, she introduced herself as Lynn. She said she had been in Sean's army at nine years old, and formed the rebellion at ten. She also gave them a description of the castle. Halt and Gilan came to the conclusion that a direct attack on the castle would be suicide, so they decided to return to Araluen for more troops. The question was, how?

**A/N: Can someone give me some ideas for the next chapter? I'm just writing whatever I think of right now and I am running out of ideas.**


End file.
